


Coming Back Different - A Free! Trans Acceptance One Shot

by ImmediatelyWriting



Category: Free!
Genre: Acceptance, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Trans, Bad Parenting, Body Dysphoria, Cute, Cute Ending, Cutesy, Female Nanase Haruka, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Hormones, Inspired by Birthday, Inspired by My Brothers Name Is Jessica, Inspired by Novel, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Light Angst, Minor Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Minor Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto, One Shot, POV Female Character, POV Nanase Haruka, Post-Canon, Post-Free! Dive to the Future, Sad, Sad and Sweet, Self-Acceptance, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Sweet, Trans, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Transgender, Transgender Haruka, minor reigisa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25914433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmediatelyWriting/pseuds/ImmediatelyWriting
Summary: One year ago;Haruka disappeared off the radar, no one heard from Haruka until he reappeared at a reunion.But Haruka now wasn't a he anymore... he, now, is a she!
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22





	Coming Back Different - A Free! Trans Acceptance One Shot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!  
> Let me start off by saying I don't usually write this kind of story, I normally do full on medical stories or MakoHaru romance, but I wanted to try out something else. So, here it is, short and sweet and loosely inspired by two of my favorite books "Birthday" and "My Brother's name is Jessica" which really showed me how important acceptance towards LGBTQ people is. They also helped me understand what goes on in the brain of someone transgender, since "Birthday"'s author Meredith Musso is transgender herself.  
> I hope I portrayed it right in this story, and if I didn't I hope I don't offend anyone... because I don't know how it feels or is, just so you know.  
> Also, I'm Dutch and Dyslectic, so already sorry for any mistakes that will be made...  
> I tried my best and I hope you'll enjoy reading my little piece of writing :)
> 
> Love, Noa <3
> 
> (Warnings: This story contains bad parenting, talking about depressed/anxious feelings, LGBTQ characters and acceptance as well as unacceptence. If you don't like and/or badly affected by these things, please don't read this!)

Haruka's on the train back to Iwatobi. Haruka hadn't been in his hometown for over a year, when she decided to take her faith in her own hands. 

Haruka's first year in college had only started two weeks ago, and something felt more off than it ever did; her body was too muscular from all the training and every time Haruka walked past a mirror or looked down at her topless chest she felt like she was someone that stood on the deck of the ship when the Titanic scraped past that iceberg and she was pierced with the remaining shards. Blood splattering everywhere when someone addressed her with "him" or called her "Haru" instead of "Haruka". 

In college it seemed worse than ever before, even though Haruka had always felt trapped in her body. 

She preferred not going to the bathroom at school, because she'd have to go wander into the boy's toilet and she'd have to look down at the manly parts she'd never asked for. It made her sick whenever someone told her she couldn't just walk into the girl's bathroom like her guts told her to do, or when she was told not to use the bathroom for disabled people when it was the only option for her to feel someone at ease while peeing.

Other than that, she liked to chatter, like any girl would, but did this in her mind only. Not only did she hate the roughness of her deep voice, she also tried not to run her mouth too much, in case she said something wrong and told her secret to her friends; whom might not want to be near her when knowing that their friend had never been a boy to begin with. 

Haruka also always had liked her friends that called her by the feminine name her parents gave her at birth. She always used to act like she didn't like it, though, because every time it was a reminder that it was only her name that sounded girly, and that she still looked like a normal guy... acted like one too. 

She always reminded herself that she needed to be muscular, a male just like she was born as. This included being called "Haru" as it sounded more manly, she couldn't wear any make-up, and had to cut her hair short and wander around without a top as much as possible. 

None of his friends expected Haruka to leave so sudden, she didn't inform them about it either.

Honestly, no one had expected it, not even Haruka herself. And leaving didn't go smooth at all, as Haruka's parents protested when Haruka had the urgent talk with them. 

She'd never got herself to tell her parents this before but, when her therapist told Haruka the amounts of money the therapy and surgeries would cost, she explained to her parents that she wanted to start transitioning. Therefore she needed money badly, not that she thought her strict parents would lend her the big amounts but she'd at least expected them to support her and stand behind her decisions. 

Instead she got a smack to the face from her father, and a crying mother yelling that Haruka wasn't her son anymore; but Haruka had never been her son to begin with, not that telling her that changed anything.

Haruka was told to leave and she did so, crying and sobbing as she found her way back to the cheapest motel she slept in at night. 

The bumpy road continued; working three jobs at once, ignoring phone calls and messages from both friends and family that she hadn't spoken too in months, paying for therapy session after therapy session while trying to scrape together the money to be able to undergo every month of hormone shots so she could finally look at herself in the mirror. 

Now, almost a year later, she could look at herself proudly.

Her hair had grown so long, it reached to far under her breasts, and her eyes looked even bigger and brighter with a layer of gold brown eye shadow and a line of black eyeliner surrounding them. 

The hormones helped her voice to now be more high-pitched, smooth and feminine like she'd always wished she had from the start of her life. Her muscles had taken away a little, since she started hormone therapy and stopped training for swimming competitions, and she'd now grown small breasts and got more feminine curves. 

Wearing dresses and high heels now felt like something normal, and she didn't get weird glances from anyone since she already looked so much like the real lady she was, after only eight months of the hormone shots.

Never in her life had Haruka felt happier with how she looked, felt and dared to act in public, even though she hasn't even finished her full transition yet. 

But being happier than ever before, doesn't mean that going back to Iwatobi to visit her friends wasn't terrifying Haruka. She's petrified now the train is nearing the village that holds all Haruka's memories; from the good, in which she spend nights sleeping at Makoto's and did swimming with her friends which she still loved more than anything, to the bad, in which she smashed mirrors because she couldn't stand her reflection and she'd spend nights on the ledge of a bridge sobbing over the life she didn't fit in.

So when her friends reached out to her, asking is she would enjoy attending Nagisa and Rei's graduation party, she was petrified. Her friends hadn't reached out to her for weeks when she received the message about the party at Rei's. Everyone would be there, so Haruka couldn't not show up no matter how badly she wanted to keep her new looks to herself a little longer. 

Her therapist said the same, when Haruka started sobbing during their weekly appointment.

"It's smarter to go to the party. It's your chance to gain their acceptance, if you wouldn't go it might be the last chance you'll ever get." Miss Sato had been harsh about it, keeping back nothing of the truth, but she got Haruka to wipe her tears and gather her courage to step on the train back to Iwatobi. 

And now she's nearing the station in Iwatobi, which meant she would be arriving at Rei's within minutes from now. 

Her old friends, Rei, Nagisa, Rin and Makoto, none of them knew about what Haruka had been doing the past year. To them, Haruka was still "Haru", a silent guy with short hair and muscled arms. Seeing Haruka now, as the girl that had always been hidden behind that mask, will be a great shock.

Maybe they won't mind, Haruka seen on their Instagram pages that all of them are LGBTQ supportive since Nagisa and Rei got together, but maybe having a transgender friend who never came out to them properly before would be too much. Maybe they'll cry and yell at her like her parents had done, and she'd be asked to leave the party, and the friendships, she just ruined behind. 

Haruka shakes her head, hair floating around her as she does, and gets up from her seat when the train starts to slow down. 

It's time to face her friends, surely they'll accept her, and show them that she's still the same Haruka; now only more open and less rudely quiet than before. Maybe she can now even show Makoto that she's pretty, that her crush maybe can fall back in love with her. 

With her hopes up, Haruka knocks on Rei's front door and waits.

She waits... and waits...

Until the door swings open and both Nagisa and Rei appear in the doorway. At first their faces are cheerful, as to be expected from hosts of a party when greeting their guests, but when they see Haruka their expressions change. To sadness? No, confusement, rather. 

"Hi," Haruka mumbles as she glances away awkwardly.

Her heart is racing in her chest when Rei readjust his glasses before asking, "Is that you, Haruka?", which is quickly followed by Nagisa's expression getting even more confused than before. 

Haruka doesn't reply, she doesn't have the time to; as Makoto's voice sounds it the background, "Is Haruka there!" Makoto's voice is followed by Rin asking, "Did he show up!?"

He the word is like a dagger to the heart again, a curse she'll have to live with, but Haruka ignores it; they'll see that Haruka isn't a "he" anymore.

Rin is first to reach the doorway and tears well up in his eyes, as expected of Rin. He's on the foot followed by Makoto who, handsome as always, appears in the doorway and immediately gasps when he sees his best friend. 

Haruka's cheeks feel warm and she's thankful for the layer of makeup on her face because otherwise she'd surely be as red as a tomato right now. 

"Hi guys." She glances away even more, not able to look at everyone's expressions. "I know, the look is... uhm... a little different?"

Silence... even worse than anger, Haruka thinks to herself. 

She decides to take this is her own hands as well, they'll be surprised by how talkative she's gotten in her time away. The evenings at the bar and mornings at the bakery have really helped her getting better with words, and after coming out to quite a lot of people now, she should be able to do this. 

"So," Haruka begins, her soft voice breaking the silence. "I'm transgender."

Honestly, that is the easiest part to Haruka. Most people would think telling that is the hardest of coming out, but it's explaining it and dealing with the reactions of people that is the worst of telling people about herself.

"And as you can see I've been away for a year, and I've undergone hormone therapy." Everything spills out so easily, as if the words that have been stuck in her throat can finally come out now. "I'm a girl now... I mean, I've always been a girl, on the inside, but now I'm pretty on the outside... like I always wanted to be."

They stay silent, and their lack of response causes sudden tears to run down Haruka's cheeks. Mascara smudges stick to her skin, blush starts to glob together on her wet cheeks. More and more sobs keep coming, and it's almost as if a force is pulling Haruka down to the floor, she has to fight it really hard if she doesn't want to collapse hear and now. 

Just when she's about to give in, an arm wraps around her. One strong, muscular arm which pulls her against a broad chest that's almost twice as wide as her. 

"You are very pretty indeed," a voice says, sweet and soft while stroking Haruka's long hair. "The long hair, the dress and heels. I don't know, but to me it suits you, Haruka."

A small smile erupts on Haruka's face when she realizes that at least one of her friends has accepted her, in the best way possible actually. Makoto has always been good with words, and even though it took him a while to come up with a good reaction to so much new information, he sounds genuine and tells Haruka exactly what she needed to hear from Makoto all along. 

Haruka releases another sob, this time a happy one, while burying her face in Makoto's chest. She has to stand on her toes to peek over Makoto's shoulder to her other friends, who are still looking quite unsure of what to say. 

Rin is sobbing, more than Nagisa and Rei who are also crying, but when Haruka's eyes meet theirs all of them show her a small smile. They exchange glances and, before Haruka knows it, they join Makoto and Haruka in a group hug like they would always do after winning a competition. 

Warm chests and muscular arms surrounding Haruka's small body feels better than it has felt ever before. 

"Thanks," Haruka whispers while hiding herself between the bodies that press up against her.

She thanks them for being her friend, for having her around and making her happy even when she felt miserable for the most... 

but even more so for accepting her as she is, and having her around and making her happy now she is who she always was supposed to be. Because more than anyone, her friends understood that this... a twenty-year-old girl with long hair, makeup, and breasts, curvy hips and a voice she dared to use was their best friend. 

They understand that this is Haruka, and they love her for it.

**The End <3**

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!  
> Me again, I hope you enjoyed this fanfiction.  
> Again, I tried my best with the little knowledge about these subjects (transgender, transition and coming out) I have and I hope it worked out a little.  
> Let me know what you thought in the comments, it would mean the world to me! and if you struggle with anything yourself, please feel free to reach out to me via e-mail (immediatelywriting@gmail.com) or my Instagram DM (immediatelywriting), and know that I am and always will be here for you!!!
> 
> Love, Noa <3


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